My trip to here, there and a little bit of everywhere!

On the morning of October 10th I packed up and headed home (to Minnesota) for a bit of a sabbatical. About 3 1/2 weeks worth. It was a time of sharing, seeing people, rejuvenation, traveling and exhaustion.

I started out by speaking on Sunday the12th at the Naz in Fergus Falls. It was good to be back!

The next day(Monday) Mom and I took off and flew to Colorado. The main reason I came home when I did was so that we could celebrate mom's birthday. So, to make it special, we headed off to see my oldest big brother and family in Colorado.

On Tuesday we went to Colorado Springs and played tourist.(the kids stayed with their other grandma). We went to Garden of the Gods, the top of Pikes Peak and toured Focus on the Family. We ended with a delicious supper at Sonic.

(Can I even tell you how much I love their Cherry Limeades? They are AMAZING. Mind-blowing really.)

(the four of us at the Garden of the Gods)

(me and the birthday girl!)

Mom had to leave on Wednesday but I was able to stay until Friday. It was a time of chilling out and relaxing with the fam. We played the Wii, went shopping, watched cartoons and played a lot of Uno Spin. Before I headed home, Julie and the kids and I went to the park and got some shots of Aunt Rachel with her favoritist niece and nephew.

(Aunt Rachel, Nephew Joshua and Niece Sarah)

The next Sunday I shared my ministry at Good Shepherd, which is the church I grew up in. Every time I come home I love this church more and more. It is so comforting to come home!

Right after church I headed down to the Twin Cities for a recruiting/seeing as many people as I possibly could trip. I started out with hanging out with these guys:

(Phil and Travis love Lamposts!)

(the city view from the Witch's Hat)

The next morning I did my first ever recruiting for Trail's End. I went to AFLBS and did a lot of sitting. There was some interest, which is always encouraging. Even if we get one more staff member it's worth it!

From Plymouth I headed down to Mankato to see my Michelle. I hadn't seen her since her wedding in December so it was great to catch up! We had an old-fashioned sleepover and it was a lot of fun!

The next morning she headed to class and I head back to the Twin Cities. I met my friend Phil for breakfast at IHOP and then we wandered around the Mall of America for awhile. We soon found our favorite place in the WHOLE WORLD : Legoland!

(Phil and Rachel at Legoland)

Then I headed over to my friend Lisa's. It had been Christmas since I had seen her and her adorable family and we had a lot of fun playing Scrabble, going thrift store shopping, watching a movie, and playing with her little boy. Sadly, this was a pictureless visit.

After spending the night with her and enjoying breakfast bagels with her and her father, I went over to Roseville and had coffee with my friend Dan. From there I camped out at coffee shops and did some homework before meeting up with my dear Lindsay. We had a yummy supper at Chipotle (it's a good thing I don't live near one - I would be there WAY too much!) and then I did more homework while she led a Bible Study. The night was finished by watching Step Up and chatting the night away.

My trip to the Cities finished with breakfast with my childhood friend Schyler and then more homework! After taking advantage of free Wi-Fi and lots of coffee I headed back to Fergus and life there.

That weekend was Crony Weekend. I adore these three girls and so enjoy our time we spend together. With jobs, living in Montana, husbands, boyfriends and children (the first two apply to me ... the last three are more their scene) we don't get a chance to have the typical girl's weekend like we used to do in high school. But we were able to work it out for the most part and were able to spend the majority of the whole weekend together. It was glorious!!

Friday night was traditional junk food, movies, talking, and giggling. Saturday there was some shopping, more eating, more hanging out and then an adventure for three of us. In high school we stumbled upon a sign that pointed us in the direction of Doran. It took us two tries, but we finally succeeded. Since then, for nostalgias sake, we head back that way now and then. Oddly enough, this is the first time we have taken any pictures!

(Rachel, Bethany and Karla in Doran)

After we got back to Fergus (via the looooong way around and some detours), we did some person changes and settled down for another movie. This time Karla's boyfriend joined us and we conned him into doing a photo shoot. Sadly enough we didn't get one of all four of us.

(Karla, Rondi and Rachel)

The next morning I shared the ministry of Trail's End at Woodland Baptist. It was the first time I had been to that church and really enjoyed the friendliness of the people.

That week was a week of seeing people. I was able to connect with almost everyone I wanted to see and it was so good to see who I got to see!!

One night I met up with these three girls:

(Ashley, Tia and Rachel)

These girls were my childhood best friends and we had a blast catching up! We commandeered a table at Applebees for 4 1/2 hours and spent a lot of time laughing. I'm excited to come home again in January for Ashley's wedding!

My last big trip was that weekend. Through recruiting, deputizing and seeing friends, I was able to see a lot of Northern Minnesota I had never seen before. It's so gorgeous up there!

I started out my time in Bemidji at Oak Hills Christian college. There was one guy who was very interested and even started to fill out his application. Hopefully I will see that come across my desk soon!!

From Bemidji I headed west to Fosston. My friend Nickie recently moved up there and I loved the chance to spend time with her! It was so fun! We did what all normal 24 yr olds do on Halloween - went trick or treating. Ok, maybe not all normal ones. Or even most of them. But we were all dressed up and had no place to go and I had never been. So we scored some sweet candy and got some great exercise!

(The Tooth Fairy and The Pirate)

(Rachel and Nickie)

After turning back into normal people we curled up with some movies and junk food. What a great night! The next morning we headed over to the Fosston craft show and scored some sweet stuff. We had a great afternoon of hanging out and talking.

From there I headed up the road to International Falls. I met up with two couples I met through camp(they come out for our 50 mile trail ride every fall) and had supper. It was a lot of fun to catch up with them and hear about their news. One of them is the author of the 2009 American Girl series, which I find very cool. Those were some of my favorite books when I was young!

After staying with one of the couples, I headed back down the road and spoke at my last church of the group, Little Fork Baptist. One of my friends from Montana is the one who connected me with this church and I was glad she did! I had a great time sharing the ministry of Trail's End at the youth Sunday school and again in church.

Once the potluck was over, I packed up and got back into my faithful traveling companion, Walter (mom's car). The road was beckoning and we were ready! We had an engagement back in Fergus and were not willing to let it slide! That night Good Shepherd was hosting "A Day Around the World", where they were focusing on different mission activities. I was honored to be asked to represent the US. It was a lot of fun to see everyone's display and learn more about the different ministries and eat yummy food!

That just left one last day in Fergus Falls before packing up Petunia (Elisha's car) and heading back to Montana on Tuesday. We had a nice trip back, taking some time to do some shopping in Bismarck and Dickinson, before getting back in time for me to vote.

Since then, I have been settling back into life in Montana and enjoyed catching up with everyone.

Shadows

(shadow of myself)

One day I will no longer be a shadow of myself. One day God will make me into a whole person and my potential as His will be realized.

What does that look like? Who will I be? I have to honest and say that I have no idea. Who am I to tell God who I should be? I am on a journey to realize who He has me to be now.

But the future? That is up to Him. And I am happy with it being that way.

The adventure of life is found in the journey, not in the end result. And so I am happy letting God direct the path of my adventure, adding some detail here, some detail there. Part of me might be in shadow, but another part of me is illuminated.

Slowly His light moves across the scope of who I am. Slowly, slowly, He brings me into focus. And it all makes sense. The true version of me emerges and the shadowy me melts away.

What a day that will be!

Grateful Friday

My list of thankfulness today:

*the sound of my puppy snoring on the couch

* a great song that makes my homework easier to bear

*the fact that I can do my homework and learn once again

*great conversations with dear friends whom the Lord has blessed me with

*adventures, whether large or small

*meeting new people and making new friends

*roadtrips

*clean clothing

*a long hot shower

*being reminded that the ministry in which I have found myself is one of lives changed and blessed

Where In The US Am I?

That is an excellent question! I am currently sitting in the living room that I grew up in. So, I am at home in Dalton. For now. Until the next thing comes up!

I just got back from a 4 day tour of the Twin Cities/Mankato. It was so wonderful to be able to most of my dear dear dear friends from down there. I wasn't able to see a couple of people that I wanted to, but God knows what needed to happen while I was there.

I would love to post some pictures for you, but my camera cord is in Montana. So, I guess such things will have to wait. But anticipation is part of the fun right??

I am now back in Fergus for a couple of days. I hope! I found out today that I will be adding another stop to this marathon of mine so the days just got a bit longer. But I will have plenty of time to rest this winter!

Anyways, I will be in Fergus until late next week. I will take advantage of this time to see people and spend more time with those I love so very much. Then I will be recruiting at Oak Hills in Bemidji and heading up to Littlefork (by International Falls) to speak at a church. From there I will come back to take part in a Missions day at Good Shepherd. The next morning I recruit at my alma mater (Hillcrest) and then head back to Montana.

Am I mistaken or did I not JUST come home?? Wow. My head is spinning.

What do I want from life?

adventure

Gratification Thursdays

i am a girl who likes alliteration. quite a bit in fact. but i do not like to feed into trends or cliches unless they fit my mood. therefore, i did not want to necessarily have a thankful thursday. but i feel that taking time out of your week to thank God is important. for the big and the little things.

my friend jeremiah sent me his cd last year and the first song on there has been running through my head these past few days. i believe the title is "the little things". i would check it for sure, but its in montana and i am in colorado and i am not willing to make that commute. sorry miah!

back to the point of this. in this song it talks about how it is the little things in life. new guitar strings and a cup of coffee. it is the little things that add up to the big things.

so here is my list for today. whether they be big things or little things, these are my things:

*playing nursemaid to a dramatic and beloved 4 year old niece and being the magical cure for what ails her

*playing Wii with my nephew because he asked me to and cause he knows he will win

*racing around my brother's mother in law's basement on wiggle racers. (do you know what these are? if not, find out now! these are amazingly fun things that i have not taken enough advantage of)

*watching a great movie on the big screen with an amazing sister in law. (fireproof is excellent. a bit cheesy perhaps and probably not an oscar contender and while it was about marriage it still had a great message that God had for me today)

*taking time out of life to spend with God (which is something that i do not do enough - and yet i feel that any break out of the ordinary is a great chance for God to really speak and for me to really listen)

*hot drinks, great talks and beloved friendships

*generosity of friends

*the comfort of knowing you have come home

Appearances - Fact or Fiction?

Life does not always look like what I think it should. In fact, it often does not turn out the way I think it should. I know this is nothing new or earth shattering to think about but this is what is striking me tonight as I sit here in my pj's, hanging out with my sister in law and musing upon life these past few weeks.

Often I look at the appearances of what is and think I have the facts all figured out. Life is black and white and this is just the way things are. But then I take a step back and figure out that what I have been seeing is simply fiction. The fact of the matter is something completely different.

I am not even sure that what I will write about in these next few paragraphs will even come close to tying in with what I have just written, but at least that is a thought for the day!

Another little look into the psyche of Rachel (just beware the journey ...)

To give a little life update for all those wondering about my car: well, it definitely is not with me at the moment. I kept having more and more problems with it while I was in Montana. One day I was driving down the road at a good clip (the speed limit IS 70 after all) and it just died. Totally and completely died. It lost all the RPMs and my powering steering locked up. Needless to say, I was not the most happy person at the moment. I pulled over to the side and put it in park and then shut everything off. (which normally is the magical fix!) But alas, not so much. It kept cranking and cranking but not running.

So I hung up on my best friend and called Ted (thank goodness my family talked me into getting a cell phone and that I was actually on part of the road that has service ... welcome to montana!).

He came to look at it and found nothing wrong (of course). He was just going to help me push it to the side of the road but when I went to turn it to on and put it in neutral it started right up (of course). So, we drove into town and took it to the repair shop. The mechanic does not have a computer that is up to date enough to work on my car but he did do a couple of tests. He found nothing wrong (of course). So I drove off and prayed hard that my car would stay strong.

The more and more I talked with people and prayed about it the less and less comfortable I felt taking my car on the long long journey across North Dakota and all around the state of Minnesota. And also, after much hemming, hawing, and other thinking, it was decided that the most likely culprit of my car problems is my fuel pump. It was a bit stressful to think of coming up with the $300 plus needed for that along with getting ready for my trip. Since I didn't have the funds and Ted didn't have the time an alternate solution was needed!

But the Lord provides and takes care of us. This fall my friend Elisha has been out at camp off and on and it just so turns out that his off time coincides with my off time. Coincidentally his off time was going to take place in Minnesota, which is where my off time was going to take place. Voila! God provides a way where there seems to be no way (have fun singing that song all night - you know it's in your head now!).

Not only was he nice enough to give me a ride home (and cleaning out some of his stuff so I could bring all my junk!) BUT he was nice enough to let me use his car while I'm home as he will not have a need for it. Once again God blows me away with His foresight and generosity (and of course Eli's generosity! it took an extra level of trust with him as his car is a stick shift and while of course I have learned to drive a stick shift as any good farm girl should, it is not my, shall we say, most developed skill).

So here I am, in Colorado. (bet you didn't expect me to say that state did you??) Life is coming at me from the left and the right and the up and the down. But the journey is always the most fun isn't it?